Addressing the fifth meeting of the NITI Aayog's Governing Council, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out the plan for the next five years, setting a goal of making India a $5-trillion economy by 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the fifth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog in New Delhi on Saturday.

Addressing the fifth meeting of the NITI Aayog's Governing Council, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out the plan for the next five years, setting a goal of making India a $5-trillion economy by 2024.

PM Modi said that the target was 'challenging but achievable' with the concerted efforts of states. The Prime Minister laid the emphasis on growth of the states and said that they should recognise their core competence and work towards raising the GDP targets right from the district level.

One of the key topics in the discussion was the drought situation in several states. With several parts of the country reeling under a drought-like situation, the Prime Minister called for effective steps to tackle it by adopting "per-drop, more-crop" strategy.

The newly created Jal Shakti Ministry has now been tasked to provide an integrated approach to the water crisis. The meeting with the chief ministers from all the states was the first one, since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which saw the BJP back in power with a thumping victory. Issues such as poverty, unemployment, Naxal-threat were also discussed in the meeting.

During the meeting, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that special forces will be deployed in Naxal-infested areas and inter-state co-operation will be improved to fight the Naxal menace in future.

According to an official release, PM Modi recalled the recent Lok Sabha elections as the world's largest democratic exercise and said that it is now time for everyone to work for the development of India.

He spoke of a collective fight against poverty, unemployment, drought, flood, pollution, corruption and violence. PM Modi said that everyone has a common goal of achieving a 'New India by 2022'. He described Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and PM Awaas Yojana as illustrations of what the Centre and the states can accomplish together.

PM Modi also said that empowerment, and an ease of living, have to be provided to each and every Indian. He said the goals that have been set for the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, should be accomplished by October 2, and work should begin in the earnest towards the goals for 2022, the 75th anniversary of Independence.

The release further said that PM Modi reiterated the Union government's commitment to double incomes of farmers by 2022. To achieve this, he said that there should be a focus on fisheries, animal husbandry, horticulture, fruits and vegetables. He also said that the benefits of PM Kisan yojna, Kisan Samman Nidhi and other farmer-centric schemes should reach the intended beneficiaries well within time.

While addressing a press conference, NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar said that a high-level task force will be formed to bring structural reforms in the agriculture sector in next two to three months. PM Modi had launched NITI Aayog during his first tenure in 2014, which was a replacement for the ageing Planning Commission formed during former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's tenure.